Chapter 15 of 100

Chapter 15

18 min read4,463 words

Ma Le was pleasantly surprised to see a small squad of Black Watch escorting a few scientists out of the outpost in a truck.

The Black Watch and the military had not abandoned the infected zone. Currently, the infection caused by the Blacklight virus was still contained within Manhattan Island, posing no immediate threat to the mainland. Therefore, Manhattan could be considered a natural laboratory, with tens of thousands of infected individuals serving as an inexhaustible supply of experimental subjects. While securing the safe zones, the Black Watch would often send reconnaissance teams into the infected zone to collect samples and conduct investigations. The distress signal Jiang Dahu had received earlier was from a large-scale field research team, but by the time a few people arrived, they had already been slaughtered by the Hunters.

Ma Le didn't dare to rush through the checkpoint, but he was willing to take a chance with a small, isolated squad. He had conducted experiments himself and found that being hit by two rifle bullets would cost him about one-tenth of his health. He estimated that his current health was around 400 points, meaning each bullet would deal about 20 points of damage. With such resilience, Ma Le was confident he could infiltrate and eliminate a small squad, and even absorb a Black Watch soldier to take on their appearance.

However, after wandering around the infected zone for a few days, Ma Le hadn't found such a squad. He didn't expect to get lucky today and see a squad heading out on a mission. Ma Le ran to the other side of the building, watching the truck drive away. He made a quick decision, opened the window, and jumped from the fourth floor, rolling on the ground to absorb the impact. He then stood up and followed the truck from a distance, waiting for the right moment to strike.

The roads in the infected zone were full of potholes, with numerous corpses and car wrecks, making them unsuitable for vehicles. The truck's main purpose was to carry weapons and ammunition for emergencies. The truck drove slowly, and Ma Le managed to keep up. After about two blocks, the truck finally stopped in front of an old building. The soldiers jumped out first, holding their weapons and securing the area. Once the scientists were ready with their equipment, the group entered the building.

Ma Le waited for a while, confirming that no one had returned, before quietly approaching the truck. He tried the door, but it was locked. He punched the glass, which only cracked, causing him severe pain in his hand. The quality of military equipment was indeed robust. Abandoning the idea of stealing the truck, Ma Le jumped into the back of the truck. Inside, there were three rocket launchers, three grenade launchers, and a neatly arranged supply of ammunition. The Black Watch must have thought no one would steal in the infected zone, so they left it there. On the front of the truck was a mounted machine gun with a belt of ammunition. Ma Le couldn't tell the caliber, but the size of the bullets alone suggested that being hit by it would cause far more than just a few dozen points of damage...

Seeing these advanced weapons, Ma Le felt that a sudden attack might not be wise. Although these men's physical abilities were far inferior to his, they were well-trained special forces and wouldn't be as foolish as the enemies in video games. If they reacted and concentrated their fire, they could turn him into a sieve in less than a second...

While Ma Le was contemplating his next move, a zombie suddenly noticed him and stumbled over to attack. Dealing with such creatures was second nature to him. He sidestepped and extended his leg, tripping the zombie and sending it sprawling. Watching the zombie struggle to get up, Ma Le suddenly had an idea...

...

John was a Black Watch special forces soldier who had been transferred to Manhattan three days ago. When he arrived, the island was already heavily infected, with almost half of the residents turned into disgusting zombies. However, these creatures were not unfamiliar to John, as they often appeared in the Black Watch's secret experiments. This mission, however, was different, making him constantly on edge. The greatest threat was not from the slow, disgusting monsters.

Alex Mercer, the culprit behind the Manhattan infection ten days ago, was confirmed dead by the military but escaped from the morgue that night and began a guerrilla war against the Black Watch. No one knew how he had become a mysterious, elusive monster. Some said he was a ghost, while others believed he was invisible. Regardless of how secure a military base was, he could easily infiltrate it and appear behind anyone at any time. You might never know how he got close to you until the moment of your death!

John didn't comment on these rumors, but the fact that Alex had killed hundreds of Black Watch soldiers was undeniable.

"Staying in the base isn't safe either, so it's better to go out on a mission and get some fresh air," John consoled himself. That afternoon, his squad was notified to conduct a field investigation. The team of seven was to protect three scientists for a field sampling.

No sane person would willingly venture deep into an infected zone filled with mutated monsters, but orders were orders, and they had to follow them.

John held a grenade launcher, vigilantly scanning the surroundings. Their sampling location was the rooftop of an old building. A patrol helicopter had discovered a peculiar infected corpse there, suspecting it to be a new virus strain, so John's squad was sent to investigate.

"What a disgusting corpse! Why do we have to come to such a dangerous place for this?" Carl complained. John turned to look at the corpse, but the three scientists were blocking most of it. From his angle, he could only see two legs, apparently female, wearing a business suit and designer high heels. She must have been a beauty in life. John couldn't help but think of a "female infected" he had encountered two days ago. She was being chased by several zombies and ran to the Black Watch soldiers, crying for help and collapsing at John's feet. John and his team eliminated the zombies behind her, and the woman thought she was saved. However, when she lifted her mud-covered face, she was met with a merciless bullet.

John had fired the shot, reasoning that she might be infected.

But John knew she wasn't infected. His virus detector often gave false alarms, but if it didn't react, there was definitely no infection. Even so, the woman had to die. The Black Watch was not a charity; they were there to eliminate the virus, not to save people!

However, John had his regrets. She was a beautiful woman, and if he could have taken her back, she would have been a real beauty.

While John was lost in thought, the scientists stood up, revealing the upper half of the corpse. The swollen, overgrown tissue had burst through the clothes, and the two limbs, barely recognizable as "arms," were twisted in bizarre ways. One of them had a flower-like mouth at the end, with a half-tongue hanging out, secreting a disgusting, viscous liquid. As for the face, it was completely covered by a fleshy, red tumor, with a few strands of yellow hair sparsely growing on it. Seeing this, John's fleeting thoughts of beauty vanished, and he cursed, "Shit!" and turned away.

The scientists finished their work and signaled that they could retreat.

"Pretty quick, less than half an hour," Carl said happily. "I thought we'd have to spend the night out here!"

John ignored him and led the way into the stairwell, holding his gun and scanning for any abnormalities. Finding none, he went down first, as he was the driver and needed to start the truck.

The hallway was narrow, and the group formed a single line. John led, followed by three Black Watch soldiers, then the three scientists, and finally, three more soldiers bringing up the rear.

They carefully made their way to the first floor, and John was almost at the door when the unexpected happened. With a loud crash, a zombie broke through the window between the first and second floors and lunged in! Although John had already reached the first floor, the ten people were still in a line in the narrow hallway, with the last person just coming down from the second floor. The zombie's sudden attack landed on the third scientist! The first two scientists turned and ran in fear, and the soldiers in front, trying to help, were blocked by the panicked scientists. The three Black Watch soldiers at the back instinctively raised their guns but hesitated to fire, fearing they might hit their own. They could only grab the zombie and fight it with their knives.

Thus, a single zombie successfully disrupted the squad's rhythm. At this moment, John, who was on the first floor, was the farthest from the incident. He had already turned the corner after descending the stairs. Hearing the commotion above, he raised his gun to return, but suddenly someone tapped him on the shoulder. John was startled and turned to see a tall young man smiling at him. He tried to pull the trigger but found his hand unresponsive. He tried to call for help, but only a weak sound came out of his throat... John was horrified to realize that his body was rapidly disintegrating, being absorbed into the young man's body!

"A... le... x..." were John's last words.

"Sorry, you've got the wrong person," Ma Le said with a smile.

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